Lottery games have become a time honored method of raising revenue for state and federal governments the world over. Traditional scratch-off and draw games have evolved over decades, supplying increasing revenue year after year. However, after decades of growth, the sales curves associated with traditional games seem to be flattening out. Consequently, both lotteries and their service providers are presently searching for new methods of increasing sales.
In one attempt to increase sales, United States lotteries have adopted second chance games where the consumer can enter losing lottery ticket codes on lottery Internet sites to play instant second chance games or to enter second chance drawings. However, for the most part, second chance games usually involve prizes of a minor nature compared to the main lottery games. Thus by their nature, second chance drawings are a minor part of overall game designs, are not a principal motivator for ticket purchases, and although they have their place, conventional second chance games have limited potential for assisting in the mainstream of lottery sales via the Internet or otherwise.
For the most part, second chance games have been limited to conduct within a single jurisdiction (i.e., a single state or other governmental entity under common jurisdictional laws) and dependent from a single primary game. For example, players within the state of Georgia, USA, may play “Lucky Seven” instant scratch-off tickets offered within Georgia, wherein players can enter a code from losing tickets into a second chance drawing designed specifically for the Lucky Seven game.
Scenarios have been implemented to expand (“link”) second chance games to multiple jurisdictions. For example, MDI Entertainment, LLC, (a subsidiary of Scientific Games Corporation) offers a linked second chance game known as “Las Vegas Game Show Experience” to multiple states in the US. Lotteries participating in the program have the option to launch one or more primary instant games featuring logos and imagery from popular TV game shows. The lotteries are granted access (for their players) to a second chance website (the “Game show Gallery”) that features a number of interactive second chance games based on the game show themes of the primary game tickets. Players from the respective states enter non-winning instant tickets into the Game Show Gallery and can choose any one of the games to play. For example, players from Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland may all enter the same second chance game (e.g., The Price is Right® drawing). Winners are periodically drawn for each of the themed second chance drawings, with the winners winning a trip to Las Vegas where they may become eligible to win an additional bonus jackpot drawing. The trips are funded by each participating state purchasing the same number of trips. In a second chance game cycle wherein, for example, 200 winners are drawn, there may be 10 winners from Kentucky, 3 from Virginia, etc.
“Monopoly® Jackpot” is another second chance game offered by MDI Entertainment having a multi-jurisdictional component. Participating states offer Monopoly® instant lottery tickets to their residents. Non-winning players enter an identifier code from the non-winning tickets at a website where they are then able to play Monopoly®-themed second chance games. A component of the second chance program includes a multi-state progressive monthly jackpot drawing that grows based on cumulative Monopoly® instant ticket sales in all participating states.
Although quite successful, the second chance games discussed above may be improved upon to provide far more flexibility to the lotteries. With the current second chance game scenarios (within single jurisdiction or across multiple jurisdictions), second chance pool (funding) problems arise if a participating lottery desires to add or delete primary games from the second chance games, particularly if an added game has a different face value than other games in the program. Additional tickets added to the pool also raise questions about undesirably extending the second chance drawing schedule. The current second chance games do not give players an opportunity to pick and choose between games having different payouts, for example lower payouts that are drawn more frequently, or larger payouts that drawn less frequently, while remaining in the same second chance pool.
Thus, it is highly desirable to develop a new second chance game program that provides a high degree of flexibility to a single lottery jurisdiction, as well as to multiple jurisdictions participating in a common second chance program, particularly when it pertains to adding or deleting games in the second chance funding pool.